Silent ball cock



July 27, 19574 A. R. sTEPHANY l 2,684,830

SILENT BALL COCK l Filed March l, 1949 IN V EN TOR. #Lafer /'JrfP/MA/g .5k-i

ATTORNEYS.

r l l i l l Patented July 27, 1954 UNITED ATENT GFFICE 7 Claims.

rIhis invention relates to a silent ball coole. In my copencling application, Serial No. 29,053, led April 9, 1948, now Patent No. 2,564,286, August 14, 1951, I disclosed and claimed a silent ball cock in combination with a pressure regulator, wherein the pressure regulator and ball cock were built together as a single unit.

There are situations in which it is desirable that the ball cock and pressure regulator be separate, so that one or the other may be replaced or repaired without the necessity of disassembling the entire unit. Furthermore, the combined ball cock and pressure regulator is somewhat expensive to manufacture and will not be suitable for installation in inexpensive closets.

It is an object of the present invention, therefore, to provide a ball cock similar to that disclosed and claimed in my copending specification above referred to, but which ball cock is separate and distinct from a pressure regulator, and which may be used with or Without a pressure regulator.

It is another object of my present invention to provide a ball cock which will be absolutely silent in operation, which can be easily disconnected for cleaning or repair, and which can be adjusted with great ease.

These and other objects of my invention which I shall describe in more detail hereinafter, or which will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon reading these specifications, I accomplish by that certain construction and arrangement of parts of which I shall now disclose an exemplary embodiment.

Reference is made to the drawings forming a part hereof, and in which:

Figure l is a horizontal sectional View through a water closet supply tank. showing my valve in position.

Figure 2 is a vertical cross sectional view of the saine, talren on the line 2-2 of Figure l..

Figure 3 is vertical cross sectional view of the same, taken on the line 3-3 of Figure Figure 4 is an enlarged cross sectional View through the valve member itself taken on the line fl-t of Figure l.

Figure 5 is a cross sectional View takenon the line I---li of Figure 4l.

Figure 6 is a horizontal cross sectional View taken on the line -l of Figure 4i.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary cross sectional View through the valve outlet on a line similar to the view of Figure 5, showing the connection where a pressure regulator is not used.

In Figure l, the water closet supply tank is indicated at It?, the ball cock is indicated at Il, the pressure regulator at it, the neat ball at IS, and the ush valve at le. The details of the ilush valve have been omitted for clarity, since they form no part of the present invention. In Figures l to 3, water is supplied from a pipe I5 through a pipe I5 to the valve Il. From the valve Il, water passes through a connection Il to the pressure regulator whence it passes through a pipe i8 to lill the tank. The tank is Eprovided with the usual standpipe l@ and an afterll tube is provided at tu, as is conventional.

Referring now in more detail to the valve itself as shown in Figures 4 to 6, inclusive, the valve comprises a casing member indicated generally at 2 l, having an extension i2. The casing member is open at both ends and at its lower end is externally threaded as at 225 and is provided at its upper end with the brackets The casing member 2| is provided with a iiuid outlet boss 5, to which the connection il is made in the event that a pressure regulator as shown at l2 is to be used. If a pressure regulator is not to be used, then the connection is made as shown in Figure 7. A modified T fitting 26 is threaded into the boss 25 and to the member 2t is secured the lill tube ill and to the reduced outlet is secured the afterill tube 2i).

Ther pressure regulator l 2 is described in detail and claimed in a Vcopending application led of even date herewith.

fr useful feature of the invention resides in the manner in which the valve is secured to the supu ply pipe i6. This is best seen in Figures 4 and 5. The end of the pipe it is externally threaded and there is screwed on to the end of the pipe I6 a flange member 2l'. The flange member 2l is provided with an annular shoulder 2li upon which the end of the valve casing may rest. The member 2l is, oi? course, internally threaded and is `provided with an annular recess ril in which the valve seat member is disposed, The valve seat member itself is indicated at "is and is in the form of a flanged ring. It is preferably made of a resilient material like neoprene or other suitable material. The valve seat member St" is secured to the flange member 2l by an externally threaded flanged plug Si which is threaded into the member Z'l with the flange 32 engaging and bearing on the ilange 33 of the valve seat member.

From the foregoing, it Will be clear that when the plug member il and valve seat member @il are assembled to the ange member 2, and the ila-nge member 2l is secured to the pipe it, the valve `seat member is secured to the supply pipe. The casing 2l is then set upon the shoulder 28 and if desired a gasket of suitable material as indicated at 34 may be placed between the shoulder 23 and the casing 2l. The easing is then secured in position by means of internally flanged and internally threaded ring The ilange portion '3% of this ring engages under the ilange member `2l and the internal threads of from the outer edge of the chamfer.

the member 35 engage the external threads on the casing.

From the foregoing description, it will be clear that if it is desired to examine, clean, or repair' the valve, it is only necessary to unscrew the ring member 35, whereupon the entire valve together with the iioat ball and linkage mechanism can simply be lifted out of the tank.

The valve member proper is indicated generally at 3i and has a stem member 33. The stem 3% has a sliding bearing in the extension 22 and is sealed thereagainst by means of an O ring or the like at 39. The body of the valve 3l has a sliding bearing within the casing 2i and the casing is provided with internal grooves 39 to permit passage of water. The lands til between the grooves 39 provide bearing surfaces for the valve. Internally, the valve member is provided with a bore 6H which is preferably of slightly larger diameter' than the internal diameter of the supply pipe I6. The end of the valve member 3l is concavely chamfered as indicated at 12 s0 that when the valve is closed, the chamfered rim l2 bears against the annular edge of the seat member 30. The Valve member itself may, therefore, be considered as a bell-like inember having a concavely chamfered rim for con-- tact with the valve seat. I have found that the degree oi chamfer is of extreme importance in producing silence of the valve and long wear. The chamfer should be at an angle of ten and one-haii` degrees from the flat upper surface of the valve seat. While this angle may be varied slightly, I have found that it cannot with impunity be varied more than about one degree in either direction.

lt is also preferable that the diameter of the valve member be about one-eighth inch larger than the diameter of the valve seat, so that the edge of the seat contacts the chamfer about le" The contact may be closer to the edge, but if it is substantially farther from the edge, the valve will become noisy.

The valve member is lifted from the seat by water pressure and it is seated by means of a mechanism now to be described.

The valve casing is provided with a boss d3 to which is pivoted a link lili. A link i5 is pivoted to the brackets 2f; mentioned above, The links M and l5 are pivotally secured to a bracket d5 which carries a rod 41 to the end of which is secured the iloat ball i3. Threaded through the link d is a screw 58 provided with a suitable screw driver slot F19 and a lock nut 5i?. The end of the screw ifi can bear upon the end of the valve stem As the level of the liquid in the tank rises, causing the float ball to rise, the linkage operates to pivot the link M a very slight amount in a clockwise direction, and the link 45 also in a clockwise direction. By virtue of the separate pivoting of the links 44 and i5 to the bracket member d6, a sort of toggle action is obtained. It will be clear that the level of liquid desired can be very quickly determined by an adjustment of the screw d8 which can then be locked by means of the lock nut 50. This renders it unnecessary to bend the rod 41 which carries the float ball.

While in Figure 6 I have shown ve grooves 39, I do not intend to be limited to a specific number of grooves. It is only necessary that there be no groove 3S directly aligned with the boss 25, because this would produce noise in the valve. It will be clear that numerous modifications may be made in details of construction and that l d0 not intend to be limited to any such details other than those set forth in the claims which follow.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A. valve comprising a casing having a fluid outlet, a fluid inlet in said casing, a flat, annular' valve seat member surrounding said inlet, a valve member comprising a bell having a bore slightly larger than the diameter in said inlet, and having a concavely, conically chamiered rim for contacting the outer edge only or said seat member, said rim extending beyond the outer edge of said seat member, and means for actuating said valve member from the exterior of said casing.

2. A valve comprising a casing having a iiuid outlet, a fluid inlet in said casing, a hat, annular valve seat member surrounding said inlet, a valve member comprising a bell having a bore larger in diameter than. the said inlet, and having a concavely, eonically chamiered rim for contacting the outer edge only of said seat member, said rim extending beyond the outer edge oi said seat member, said valve member having a sliding bearing in said casing, said casing having an extension and said valve member having a stern having a sliding bearing in said extension, sealed thereagainst and extending therebeyond.

3. A valve comprising a casing having a fluid outlet, a fluid inlet in said casing, a iiat, annular valve seat member surrounding said inlet, said casing having an extension substantially aligned with said inlet, a valve member having a sliding bearing in said casing and having a stem having a sliding bearing in said extension, means for sealing said stem against said extension, said valve member comprising a bell having a bore larger in diameter than the said inlet, and having a concavely, conically chamfered rim lor contacting the outer edge only of said seat member, said rim extending beyond the outer edge of said seat member, said valve member being unseated by fluid pressure, and means for seating said valve member by pressure on said stem.

4. A valve according to claim l in which said chamfer is between 10 and 11.

5. A valve according to claim l, in which said seat member is of a resilient material.

6. A valve according t0 claim 2 in which said chamfer is between 10 and 11.

7. A valve according to claim 2, in which said seat member is of a resilient material.

iteierenees @it-ed in the rile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Harrison Feb. 28, 1892 Pohlman Jan. 21, 1902 Curtin Aug. 28, 1906 Gruschow Sept. 12, 1911 Dujat Feb. 10, 1914 Leonhart Nov. 28, i916 Agee Apr. 3, 1930 Wolff Apr. 3, 1934 McElwaine Sept. 10, i935 Langdon Mar. 23, 1937 Klein Oct. 22, 1940 Svirsky Jan. 27, 194i?x Svirsky Oct, 20, 1942 Oravec Apr. i8, 1944 

